Making your gifts yummy!

December 9, 2009

After an unsuccessful Christmas shopping trip to Palmerston Road yesterday I returned empty handed. I did however return with lots of ideas, Knight and Lee department store was filled with lots of beautiful things but all too expensive. Its only half way through December and we are on our weekly budget of benefits. My husband works full time but his wages cover our mortgage and bills and my carers benefits see us through week to week so we are on a pretty tight budget! If I had the money I would love to bestow all my family with beautiful things.

I saw some pretty tins of Italian Biscotti, hard sweet dipping biscuits, I received some last Christmas from a family member who was living near Milan at the time. I was won ever and couldnt beleive I had gone 25 years without having a biscotti before! They all came wrapped like little sweets in a bright red tin. I spotted some yesterday but £10 for a tin was way out of my price range. Well I could make them I decided and buy pretty boxes to package them for half the price, so thats what I’m up too. Everyone (um me) loves foodie gifts and biscotti due to being a very hard biscuit keep for a few weeks and go very well with a coffee, perfect. I also have heaps of Almonds left that my parents collected from the fields near there Andalucian home.

Making light work of the Almonds!

Almonds are a key ingredient to biscotti. You can probably find a better way of breaking the shells than us or you can buy them de shelled quite easily. I gratefully received the carrier bag of Spanish almonds I was given, never turn down free food!

So im off out to get all the things I need to make my homemade gifts. I also picked up some good real ale from Aldi and whiskey minitures for the men in our family so I can make up a hamper of food and drink for the family. Also some good ground coffee to accompany the biscotti!